Disclosure of info for FOI requests relates only to what existed at the time of the FOI request being lodged, for the list above that was 25 January 2012. Or as the DWP states “PROVIDERS FOR MWA DURING THE REQUESTED PERIOD”

“Now that the DWP has at last complied with the law and released the information that was requested in 2012, we should be able to get further details about where workfare it is taking place today.

“We encourage everyone who wants to see an end to workfare and punitive welfare policies to use and share this information, and to work together to press all the organisations involved in workfare to pull out immediately, as so many already have. ”

A spokesperson for Tesco – the only organisation out of more than a dozen on the list The Independent tried to contact that have actually provided a comment – said: “Prior to deciding the scheme wasn’t right for us, we had offered to pay those who were doing placements with us.- “As a business we remain committed to providing employment opportunities for the long-term unemployed.”

The damage to these organisations is done, nothing they now say can repair that. They did not risk asses this workfare because something for nothing impresses their shareholders, so now they can wait for their FST results and consider their folly.

That “charities” could take advantage of desperate people in such a way is disgusting.
I have supported charities with monthly d/D for many years. I also give to various other charities who are shaking collection boxes. Not any more, I will remember those I have no more respect for.
Until they acknowledge their part in the government’s cheap labour scam and make a full unreserved apology they will never see another penny from me.
Sue Ryder has a notice in their shops “Stealing is an offence, stealing from a charity is offensive” – what a shame they didn’t apply their own words to themselves, as in robbing people of their entitlement by taking advantage of their misfortune is offensive.
I am not averse to able bodied jobless being asked to earn the equivalent of their JSA by working for it. At 10 hours a week on £7.20, they have earned their JSA. At 20 hours a week, they have also paid their Housing Benefit, owing nobody anything. At 30 hours a week the companies and charities in the list have treated these desperate people as 2nd class citizens and p****d on them from a great height.
May they reap what they have sown.

disgusting,especially some of the big names with millions,nay billions in turnover,and charities i shall no longer support.
it would be interesting to know how much the DWP operation over all has cost the taxpayer,in ALL court cases,failed computer systems,the escalating cost of rolling out universal credit,the cost of using firms like MAXIMUS and CAPITA to knock people off benefits which are rightfully theirs,by paying these people excessive bonus’s to do so.the fake doctors employed to decide who can have benefits or not,when one’s GP should have the final say.the whole DWP wants scrapping as not fit for purpose.
also more disgusting is the fact that taxpayers money can be used in this way.there should be some sort of mechanism in Parliament to prevent this abuse of taxpayers money since 2010.
i wouldn’t mind betting if all the DWP’s costs in everything from 2010 was added up it would have been billions cheaper to have paid out all the benefits they tried to stop.
there should be a national scandal over this,and the organisations that used workfare,should be forced to pay the people they used, wages for the time they were “employed” there.
cant anything be done Mike !!

Yes this was a total disgrace and once again in some areas done in the most under handed covert way. Maybe some of those involved might have liked the idea of contributing their time to some of these charities….if they were given a choice. Some of the DWP task foces did not like working with offenders who were carrying out the same community work as part of their punishment it made them feel like they were being viewed as offenders rather than persons down of their luck and out of work.. Many lost out financially as their travel expenses were not fully or properly reimbursed and they also sufferred having their benefits stopped for very minor issues whilst on these free duties. Even the Churches were using free labour with unemployed labour gangs in this area being deployed clearing up their church yards many without proper safety equipment and training……maybe they were working for third party gang masters utilising this source of free labour It is no wonder the DWP were reluctant to reveal their deeds because it goes deeper than just cheap labour. It smacks of the labour camps used by the Germans during the war for assisting commercial interests. Would be interesting to find out how many actual jobs were created using this free labour method. Another very dirty and dark Con trick on innocent victims…….so what’s new?

some of the companies i am not at all surprised about,in fact i did expect more, some of the charities in am not surprised about, however charities seem to forget one thing, they rely on volunteers and donations and if they entered into this scheme to get extra funding for there charity then they need to be honest amongst there volunteers, retrospectively they also have to show that if they entered into this , they employed people after a certain period, for the business on this list, welcome to my blacklist of companies that i will not do business with, as for the charities, well i shall have to look at this from a supporting point of view and have a detailed look, however i will say that if you did now is the time to say so and to say how many you gainfully employed or can show that you contributed to making a difference in there live, other than that if i have supported you in the past i shall think twice in the future of your on this list

The more we learn about charities, the more we realise they are either scams or extensions of the corporate state. These dodgy schemes should all be scrapped and everyone given a living minimum income.

It is disgraceful but not entirely surprising, to see the Citizens Advice Bureau on this list – the very organisation to which many desperate individuals hounded by the DWP turn, under the illusion the CAB remains committed to offering impartial advice and advocacy for ALL citizens equally.

Unfortunately many local CABs are now largely funded and ‘owned’ by the same local councils that are in many cases also major workfare exploiters..

As increasing numbers in my local area are finding, if you are on benefits the CAB tends to be as harsh and draconian as the DWP and councils themselves – treating claimants like SECOND CLASS citizens, refusing to advocate on their behalf, and literally acting as enforcers for their oppressors (notably over Bedroom Tax) – agressively ordering vulnerable individuals to comply with DWP and council ‘rules’, even when such rules have been applied wrongly or unlawfully.

Limitations of (largely council-sponsored) CAB funding do not excuse this, and it seems to be the case that councils are now dictating how such funds are spent, and who the CABs are, or are not authorised to assist. Thus for example, at my local CAB, the sick and disabled are often bullied into attending workfare schemes without appeal (and now we know why!), while impoverished bedroom tax and council tax victims are informed they must pay money they can not afford and in many cases may not even lawfully owe.

Our local CAB has taken on the draconian arrogance and cruelty (I have seen evidence in writing) of Dickensian beadles and workhouse bosses, and their treatment of the poorest has degenerated into a thatcherite wet dream about reminding them of their ‘proper place’ and bullying them into accepting it.

Moreover, in the same council building that houses my local CAB branch is a workfare pimping company, and the two work closely together, with the CAB having been pressurising disabled clients for years to “volunteer” their spare time with this organisation.

The thinking behind all this seems to be that without Legal Aid, vulnerable citizens have been completely disenfranchised, with no means of enforcing complaints or seeking damages over the consequences of inaccurate or harmful ‘advice’. Therefore they have become fodder for the funding mill, and their interests no longer count.

As a former advice worker (non CAB), I used to recommend people go to the CAB, but no longer feel able to – in fact I now suggest they proceed with extreme caution and seek support (and ‘second opinions’ over any CAB advice) from relevent Facebook and other online communities.

From time to time the CAB still issues reports about the DWP’s treatment of the disabled and other vulnerable groups, but these statements tend to come from the ivory towers at the top, and not local, (often council funded) local offices. And what has been occurring at the CAB coalface since the demise of Legal Aid, is a very different matter.

Very little if anything has reached public awareness about the CAB’s increasing dubiousness – now fully confirmed by their exposed workfare involvement. Most people still believe the CAB are the good guys. This organisation urgently needs to to be publicly scrutinised and called to account – for exactly the same reasons as their masters in our local councils.

If I were you, I’d be very careful about that Citizens Advice listing.
I was concerned that people would react as you have when I saw Citizens Advice on the list.
Each individual Citizens Advice is an organisation in its own right, while being affiliated to the national network. This means that, while some offices may have participated in this activity, not all did. I know for a fact that Citizens Advice Powys didn’t, for example.
The commitment to provide impartial advice and advocacy for everybody is not an illusion.
From personal experience of my local Citizens Advice, I find it hard to believe your claims about advice on the Bedroom Tax. If rules are applied wrongly, Citizens Advice works to sort out the problem. My local Citizens Advice restores to claimants more than half a million pounds of benefits that were wrongly stopped, every three months.
Nobody is treated as second-class. All are treated equally.
I cannot discuss your own Citizens Advice, of course. I notice, though, that you support your comments with neither your own name nor that of the Citizens Advice office about which you are complaining.
None of the advice provided by Citizens Advice is inaccurate or harmful. The organisation has extremely strict rules regarding the quality of advice, enforced on a national level.
I see you say you were a former advice worker with another organisation. Could it be that you have an axe to grind against Citizens Advice and consider this an opportunity to poison people’s minds against an organisation that exists only to help them?
Citizens Advice reports about the DWP are issued at regional or national level – but use information from every local office.

So I cannot agree with your comment. Citizens Advice remains an excellent source of help for the people of the United Kingdom. The involvement with MWA in 2012 is worthy of investigation, but you should prepare yourself for a shock if you actually believe that the issue is nationwide. As for local councils being “masters” – they do provide funds, but they have no influence on the nature of the advice provided.

Mike, if what you say is correct, and I have no reason to doubt it, why have local CAB’s been allowed to enter politically sensitive territory without national policy. It seems that, perhaps in all good faith, local CAB’s are autonomous of national direction, and as a consequence, the ideals of individuals are allowed to prevail. This is hardly an acceptable framework for the administration of impartial advice.

….”a small number of our shops have accepted mandatory work experience placements,………We have now taken the decision to withdraw from any programme (sic) where attendance is mandatory and all existing arrangements will be phased out over the coming few weeks”. Arthritis Research UK.

These may not be CAB, but are analogous with the political freedom off which many charitable organisations seem to operate.

Second example of local autonomy.

” after a brief involvement………At the British Red Cross we believe that voluntary placements should, by their nature, be voluntary and it is wrong to place people on mandatory volunteering schemes …. we do not feel that it is appropriate to participate in a programme where sanctions might be applied that could result in an individual losing their benefits.”

Disgraceful behaviour but what else would you expect from the nasty party and their cronies! No wonder IDS bailed out when he did, he knew this was coming and, as a usual politician, especially a right wing one, didn’t have the backbone to stay and take the much deserved brunt he would’ve gotten!

This has been happening for years. I remember being on jobseekers allowance (I was 18 at time, 32 now) and being forced to work for rct council for 6months, nearly 40hrs per week, pay all my travel and food costs, just to receive £38 a fortnight in allowance (which the jobcentre declare is a food budget only) I owed more money out to people who helped feed me and pay my travel during those 6months than I ever received in JA before I found work. I would rather sit in the street and beg than be taken advantage of like that again. The state doesn’t actually help you, they use and abuse you and hold you to ransom and it will never change